Square Enix has revealed the plans for Chocobo raising in Final Fantasy XI, something the development team announced at the Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival 2006.

Raising a Chocobo is not an overnight project. In fact, it will require a little daily effort for roughly one to three months. The development team has likened it to gardening, and they feel that even busy players will be able to raise their own feathered steed.

As for the birds themselves, they will vary in appearance and ability depending upon both from how they are raised and the egg used. Some eggs will contain rarer breeds than others.

After the egg is hatched, it must be taken to a Chocobo stable. Those wishing to raise their Chocobo in their Mog House will be out of luck. The moogles are refusing to take care of the birds due to the stench and mess they cause.

Once the chick is at the stable, the player can rest assured that the young bird will be taken care of while the player is gone, but those wishing to raise Chocobos will need to feed them when they are hungry and play with them when they are lonely. The stable will not do everything for the player, and the love and care given to the Chocobo will greatly affect its development.

When the Chocobos reach a certain age, they will be able to mate. By matching the birds up with another player's Chocobo, an egg may be produced, and the chick it contains may be quite different from its parents.

The Chocobo raising feature will be included in the next update. Until then, Square Enix will release more detailed information on how to actually go about doing it. Square Enix also said "[it is] hard at work creating a system in which players can enjoy competing their Chocobos against each other--for example, to see which is the fastest..."

Look to RPGamer for more information about the newest edition to the world of Vana'diel as it is announced.